Critical Thinker
- Wordplay
- Although generally, I really hate memorizing vocabulary words, this little challenge really made me appreciate the creation of words in the English language. In this challenge, students had to think of a list of 20 words that they could make sentences with through the mix and match of words. I came up with a few basic pronouns, verbs, nouns, and adjectives that can be applied in a variety of scenarios. This made me think about a short video I had watched, which featured a guy that was limited to speak only one word per year. Each year he would say a word of a sentence he had previously written, and over the span of around 50 years, he finally got a sentence out of him, confessing to his lover how much he loved her. I thought this was really heartwarming and couldn’t imagine how hard it would be not to talk. Recently, I did a challenge with my friends to bake a cake with one person mute, one person deaf, and another blind. We used tape to prevent us from talking, put on headphones turned on loud metal rock, and used a blindfold respectively. During the entire process, it was extremely hard for us to communicate, and ensure that we were on the right track of baking our cake. At the end of the challenge, when we regained our senses, I instantly felt really grateful for the bless of being healthy. I couldn’t help but feel bad for those with disabilities, and couldn’t imagine how hard it would be for a disabled person to navigate their way around a bustling city like Shanghai, especially during times of COVID-19, when everyone was wearing masks and deaf people might not be able to figure out what the other person was saying. Overall, this challenge was really helpful in making me a more grateful person in general.
Resilience
- Mindfulness walk
- Reflection on How a Mindfulness Walk Expanded My Resilience
- A mindfulness walk became a powerful lesson in resilience for me. At first, it seemed like a simple activity, but as I focused on each step, my breath, and the sensations around me, I realized how much it was teaching me about staying grounded and present. Life often feels overwhelming when I’m caught up in worries or regrets, but this walk reminded me that resilience begins with facing the present moment with clarity and calmness.
- I also learned the value of patience. My mind wandered at times, and I felt the urge to rush, but each time I gently brought my focus back to the walk, I was practicing patience—a key part of resilience. It showed me that setbacks are inevitable, but I can navigate them with grace if I stay centered.
- The walk highlighted the power of small, intentional actions. Though simple, it had a profound impact on my mental state, reminding me that resilience is built through consistent, mindful efforts. By the end, I felt calmer and more grounded, realizing that resilience isn’t just about enduring challenges but also finding peace amidst them. This experience deepened my understanding of resilience and inspired me to incorporate more mindful moments into my daily life.
- Inspired by Deepseek AI
- “DeepSeek.” Deepseek.com, 2025, chat.deepseek.com/a/chat/s/51b6c25c-e853-4138-938e-bc3ad80b40b6. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
Effective Collaborator
- Tutoring French to MS students📓🇫🇷
- I found a few students that I’m friends with thanks to the french trip last year. I then applied the knowledge I learnt this year in the French course, and taught them useful phrases that they can use when writing essays. Some examples include “Les vacances vert” which directly translates to “a green vacation. This idiom means to be on a school trip with your school.
- I taught them this idiom with the prior knowledge that the use of idioms can significantly increase one’s marks in an essay. Thus, I wanted to help them improve their French writing.
- Since we were already friends, the process of teaching them was quite easy, as they were eager to learn more phrases in French with their passion for the language. Talking to them made me rewind back to the fun memories we had in France for the world classroom trip which I really, really enjoyed.
- All in all, the experience was quite healing in some way. Not only did I teach somebody else new knowledge, but I also got to discover my areas of improvement, to overlook which areas I need to study more.
Creative Learner
- Upcycle ♻️
- I decided to print a project that I had made last year the day after I had just learned how to use Autodesk Fusion 360. I was able to apply the new knowledge and design a piece of artwork inspired by a Japanese anime called “Demon Slayer.” At the time, I was really obsessed with the show, and so I designed a 3D mask of one of the demon slayers who had already passed away. I really respected this demon slayer especially, because it was one of the first side characters that kindly redirected our main character, Tanjiro, into the world of demon slayers. Additionally, the demon slayer that uses this mask also has connections with other demon slayers, so overall the background story was really sad and heartwarming, which inspired me to create a 3D mode of it. However, I did not have the chance to print a side project like this and I was really happy when I was acknowledged that I could take it home. I then printed out the final result of my work, and showed it to my friends and family who were also really impressed.
Skillful Communicator
- Writing a debate speech process 🗂️📓
- I decided to write about a heated debate topic that is discussed among many individuals today. The topic is about the use of AI in the criminal justice system. I wrote a proposition case about this motion, consisting of a long model defining the criteria of how the debate should be judged, and 2 main benefits.
- The first benefit is how it speeds up the crime detection process. As many of the cases in court today usually take up more than 5-10 years due to the conflict in evidence etc, the use of AI can likely speed up the process.
- The second benefit is how it speeds up the crime sentencing process, as AI can intake large amounts of information from past cases, and apply these scenarios to future cases. This not only speeds up the process but also ensures fairness to all citizens.
- During the process of writing the debate speech with my friends, it was hard brainstorming ideas as we realized proposition was quite a hard side to debate on. However, we were able to find ways to argue on the team proposition and create this case. Later on, we were able to apply this case in a competition and eventually win the debate, in which we are pretty proud of.
